"It is a normal phenomenon such as a rainbow but it happens around the sun in the form of a ring," Toni Agus Wijaya, a spokesman of the Yogyakarta Climatology, Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said here Tuesday.
Toni said the solar halo phenomenon occurs as a result of interaction between clouds drifting at an altitude of d 2,000 meters and sun rays. It can sometimes also be seen during bright days in the rainy season.
"A solar halo can actually happen several times in a day but due to cloudy skies, not all of them are visible," he said.
For people who wanted to see the solar halo, Toni said it was dangerous to see directly into the sun but it was safe to look at just the halo with the naked eye.
Toni said a solar halo phenomenon usually lasted several minutes and would disappear if the wind blew around the sun, the event would have no impact on the weather.
A number of people were seen taking photographs of the solar halo at Yogyakarta`s city hall using their compact and cellular phone cameras.
"This is the first time for me to witness a solar halo phenomenon, and I took a picture," said Setyani, a Yogyakarta resident.
Yogyakarta Mayor Herry Zudianto and several other civil servants also witnessed the phenomenon.
(Uu.AO50/HAJM/A014/P003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
